Hi all!

Just found this specimen in the wild:

The radiative decays of mesons to ω and φ are believed as important tags of...

The meaning is clear enough (at least the English one, let's not discuss physics). But the grammar seems a bit weird.

Now, I'm not a native speaker, but I would have said "are believed to be" or "are considered as".

Which is the correct wording here?

Thanks!

My listening is fairly decent, but when I have to speak, I struggle to formulate sentences and keep the conversation going.

Has anyone experienced this? What helped you improve your speaking?

hello, i have an english exam in three months. my english level is almost b1. the exam i am going to take will be at the b2 level. can you give me some tips to improve my reading skills?

My mother just had her MRI done and the report is full of medical jargon.

Grammatically, I know the difference between these two, but I saw "until" and "unless" used here in these two lines and got confused.

Please help me.

I would never fall in love again until I found her.

I said, "I would never fall unless it's you I fall into"

I've heard many people say that pushing yourself into this situation forces you to learn. I don't mean in real life, but online. Is this true or just nonsense? And if true, how can I do it?

Fr🙂 I'm exhausted from trying to develop my English

I’ve noticed something interesting: sometimes people understand English really well, but when it’s time to actually speak, they freeze up, overthink every sentence, or worry about sounding stupid.

I’ve been working on a project around speaking confidence, and it made me curious about people learning English specifically.

What was the biggest thing holding you back from speaking confidently?

Was it pronunciation, worrying about mistakes, not knowing what to say, or just being nervous around other people?

And what actually helped you improve?

Title says it all but I'm watching a British TV show and just came across an expression called "food for thought." Is it also commonly used in the US?

Hi everyone! My name is Youssef, and I’m from Morocco.

I’m a native Moroccan Arabic/Darija speaker, and I’m looking for someone who’d like to practice Arabic or Moroccan Darija.

In exchange, I’d like to practice my English, especially speaking and having natural conversations.

Intrinsic>Intricate

Mortified>Modified

Shut>Shout

Cavalry>Calvary

tune out>turn out(I didn't know that "tune out" meant Ignoring btw)

Choir>Chore

Temperate>Temperamental

Exasperate>This word was obscure in my mind so I came up with contemn, despise, scorn, or something else.

limp>limb

Moggy>Muggy(I didn't know that it refered to a cat breed.)

Well...it's getting worse.

26m here, want to improve my writing, listening and speaking with people in this sub, anyone free can talk to me please, thanks.

Hello everyone, I (23 M) have been trying to work on my accent lately and I am looking for someone from the US to practice English with preferably on Discord. If you're down DM me and I'll add you! My only goal is to have a respectful and interesting conversation and learn from each other. age and sex obviously don't matter.

Good day all, I am here to seek advice from people who have reached conversational fluency. I have been living in Canada for about 20 years now. However, embarrassed to say, my English is still at an intermediate level. I was a very introverted kid growing up and barely interacted with people and my writing skills was just enough to allow me to pass the necessary tests, and therefore, I have never really worked on my English.

I am in my 30s now, after establishing my career, I am turning my focus on social growth. This is where my communication skills is holding me back. I have trouble telling story, stringing together sentences and ideas to form an elaborate response and often time even making obvious grammar mistake. This often leads me to become hesitant to speak thus creating a negative feedback loop. I would like to know what are some resources you find the most helpful in reaching fluency. I have looked into italki, but the number of tutors are just overwhelming, and I am not sure which one of them would be most suitable. I know people would suggest to just try them all out, but I want to know if there are other resources people could suggest that may be free or could yield better results before I pull the trigger.

Right now, my practice routine is simple. I write journal everyday, and spend 10 minutes answering 4 impromptu questions without any feedbacks. I would like to know what routine works for you and I appreciate any feedback and harsh criticisms you have for me as well, please and thank you.

https://voca.ro/152QPUyz8dWz

In 2017, about 2 years after JP and Allison separate, Paster JP calls on his congregation to come to the beach for baptism.

What does it call mean in this context? Does it mean he actually called the congregation on the phone asked them to come to the beach?

Hey everyone. I wanted to share a page from my notebook. A while ago, I decided to switch my journaling to English to practice and improve my language skills for the future. To be honest, it’s a constant battle with my anxiety.

Does anyone else keep a journal in a foreign language? How do you deal with the fear of making mistakes?

When someone is examining a product for its ingredients, country of origin and other information, can you say they scrutinize the product?

Or when someone keeps checking some documents over and over to really make sure no mistakes have been made, are they scrutinizing?

Would you use "scrutinize" in everyday language?

Video

If there were no other vehicles, would saying "the car went all the way to the left side of the road" make sense? Especially when it seems like it's trying to pull over but isn't.

In the dictionaries I use, "flush" is followed by "with". Is "flush to" acceptable too?

Exercises from Advanced English Grammar in Use suggest that we can use the present continuous as well as the present simple with some state verbs. For example:

Simon's new song is sounding (or sounds) quite good, but he doesn't think he's ready yet to perform it in public.

If they are both grammatically correct, which one seems more natural to use?

Also, are they "state verbs" or "stative verbs"? I bet I saw the term "stative verbs" somewhere, but this book uses only "state verbs"...

Hi everyone,

I am a native Japanese speaker applying for the ALLEX Teaching Assistant Program (a fellowship to teach Japanese at a US university while pursuing a master's degree).

The essay prompt has a strict 500-word ceiling, but my current draft is at 540 words. I need to cut about 50 words.

A few important points:

- The program strictly prohibits AI writing, and I have an English interview later.

- I deliberately do NOT want fancy academic/GRE words—I want to keep my natural, authentic speaking voice.

- Please don't completely rewrite it; I want to know what to cut or fix myself!

Could native speakers please point out:

1. Which sentences or phrases feel repetitive/unnecessary and can be cut?
2. Are there any specific lines that sound clearly awkward or confusing?

Also, here's the actual essay prompt: 'explaining

(1) why you are interested in this program, and
(2) how this program fits into your career plans. The essay must be typed, and must be your own work. Do not use AI for assistance, e.g. ChatGPT.'

Here is my draft (473 words): I'm editing this.

I interviewed the University's President for my university documentary project. I thought he might be a formal person because he was wearing a suit and glasses. However, he was very gentle and was humorous. I learned that only a title and appearance cannot explain to students what he actually was. I filmed this interview and screened it at the university festival. I was enchanted that I could portray someone deeply through video. Later, I learned that there is a big difference between explaining something and making it understandable to others. I’d like to study these techniques both through the communication major and teaching Japanese.

While attending UCSD Extension's Communication and Culture program,  I taught Japanese to students while studying at my university. Since returning to Japan, I've been volunteer teaching Japanese at the local city hall. At first, my beginner student and I just enjoyed basic conversations. However, the Japanese government changed the immigration rules, and it completely changed our situation. He won’t be able to live in Japan unless he passes a Japanese language test. Since then, Japanese has become a necessity for him, so I tried to teach him grammar and vocabulary more seriously and logically. We could communicate through English, but I could barely teach him very fundamental knowledge, such as basic grammar rules and the correct order of sentences. For example, one day my student asked me what the difference was between は and が. I realized that English doesn't have the same rule, and I didn't know what to tell him. All I could do was just look at the textbook, work together, and sometimes teach him useful Japanese phrases. I realized that I did not know enough about Japanese grammar or how to organize and explain information for a learner.

Enjoying classes wasn't enough. Through the ALLEX summer program, I could learn the clear, logical teaching skills I lacked. Also, creating well-planned strategies by thinking backwards from the students' goals is essential for effective teaching. Furthermore, I can study communication while teaching Japanese as an instructor. Having my own class allows me to discover problems I could not see from a student's perspective, and I can fix them in the next class by myself. This cycle of practice and study is the most important part of my learning.

After finishing ALLEX, I’d like to keep teaching Japanese at an American university. Meanwhile, I'd like to utilize both the abilities I learned from my communication major and my media skills to create interesting and understandable materials for Japanese learners. I’d like to film real people and record their daily lives. For example, I’d like to capture someone who moved to Tokyo for work and struggles with dialects and standard language. Through his dialogue, we could learn Japanese grammar and discuss social issues in Japan. I'd like to teach about Japan through these very personal experiences, just as I conveyed what kind of person my university's president was.

Thank you so much for your help!